Name: Alex Stewart

Form: L6

Centre No. : 100082

Candidate No. : 1000821177

Territory: Jamaica

School: Munro College

IN PART FULFILMENT

OF THE

MANAGEMENT OF BUSINESS

SYLLABUS

FOR

CARIBBEAN ADVANCED PROFIENCY EXAM (CAPE)

FOR THE YEAR 2012-2013

2012-2013

Table of ContentsAcknowledgement.......................................................................................................................................2

Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3

Aims and Objectives....................................................................................................................................4

Lit Review....................................................................................................................................................5

Methodology...............................................................................................................................................9

Report........................................................................................................................................................11

Analysis and Interpretation.......................................................................................................................14

Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................16

Recommendation......................................................................................................................................17

References/Bibliography...........................................................................................................................18

Appendices................................................................................................................................................19

Questionnaire............................................................................................................................................19

Presentation Of Data.................................................................................................................................23

A cknowledgement

The completion of this Internal Assessment would not have been possible without the help of the Almighty God, who gave me the strength and health to complete the assignment. Also my family and friends played a major role in assisting me in obtaining the necessary research data for the project. And last but definitely not the least my wonderful sociology teacher Ms. Collins, who aided her students’ and guided us every step of the way. I am extremely thankful.

Introduction

The central purpose of Human Resource Management (HRM) is to recruit, train and utilize a business’s personnel in the most productive manner to assist the organization in the achievement of its objectives. This management function has developed from, but is rather different to, the work of traditional ‘Personnel Departments’. These departments, historically, were responsible for recruiting, discipline and welfare of staff and they tended to be bureaucratic, inflexible and reluctant to give any HR roles to any other functional managers. Human resource management, however, focuses on planning the workforce needs of the business; recruiting and selecting appropriate staff, using a variety of techniques; appraising, training and developing staff at every stage of their careers and measuring and monitoring staff performance.

With the above knowledge, the researcher will take on the purpose of isolating areas of weakness within the Human Resource Department and attempt to remedy such faults, while exploring the topic of “ The importance of the Human Resource Management within the ‘Waterloo Guest House’ ”.

Aims and Objectives

To help with the investigation of this research, the researcher has come up with a variety of aims

and objectives which should make the interpretation of the ‘importance of the Human Resource

Department less hackling. These are the aims that were created in order to assist in the

interpretation.

To gain more knowledge as to how the Human Resource Department operates in a

business.

Identifying the main duties carried out by the Human Resource Department of Waterloo

Guest House.

Recommend strategies to help improve the effectiveness of the Human Resource

Department within Waterloo Guest House.

In having these aims, the following objectives were derived by the researcher:

To assess the functions of the Human Resource Management at Waterloo Guest House.

To elaborate on the managerial structure of the Human Resource Department.

To identify the day-to-day activities of the Human Resource Department.

To describe the HRM function at Waterloo Guest House.

To evaluate the effectiveness of other departments at the Waterloo Guest House.

To make recommendations to improve the HRM department at Waterloo Guest House.

Lit ReviewThe manager of this organization is actively involved in the day to day activities of business. The

management practices a variety of strategies to get his employees involved in the activities of the

business. Some of these strategies include;Motivation- In order for someone to work effectively

that person has to get encouragement that the work being done by them is ok and they should

continue or that the work being done is not good enough and they should work harder. This

process is known as motivation. Motivations are given through; fringe benefits, incentives, and

bonus.Controlling- For a manager to lead an organization he/she has to be able to possess control

over the workers of the organization. This is very important to leaders as in distinguishes a leader

from a regular worker.Organizing- Leaders are expected to set standards and rules that persons

below them should follow in order to ensure the success of their organization. This would be

considered a form of organization because the leader sets standards that employees are expected

to live up to.Planning- A leader is someone who should always make preparations for what will

happen in the case of an incident in his/her company. Leaders should always plan ahead so that

they can be readily prepared for any unexpected occurrences in the organization. Evaluating-

Leaders should always be able to interpret the path in which the business is headed and analyze it

so that he/she can inform employees of what they are expected to do, to help the organization on

the path to success.Communication - For a team to work effectively it is essential team members

acquire communication skills and use effective communication channels between one another

e.g. using email, viral communication, group meetings and so on. This will enable team members

of the group to work together and achieve the team's purpose and goals.

The employees of this organization are encouraged to continue doing good work with benefits

that they receive from the organization. Some of these benefits are; incentives, bonus and fringe

benefits. Another form of motivation practiced by this organization is giving employees the

opportunity to aid in decision making, this is known as “participative” or “democratic leadership

style”.This type of style involves the leader including one or more employees in on the decision

making process (determining what to do and how to do it). However, the leader maintains the

final decision making authority. Using this style is not a sign of weakness; rather it is a sign of

strength that your employees will respect. Employees of this department engage themselves into

teams as they have proven that in doing this they get more work done in a shorter period of time

and it is of better quality that if they did it by themselves. These employees carry out duties such

as these in teams; the recruitment of employees, interviewing suitable persons for a specific job,

and allocation of employees. The organization employees the formal channel of communication.

This form of communication includes; meetings, memos, and reports. This channel can either be

vertical or horizontal. This method of communication is effective as it:

Is a quick and easy way to send and receive messages in the organization.

Builds confidence within employees so that they can express themselves freely.

Builds a relationship among workers.

This method of communication also has its negative side such as:

It might only allow one-way vertical downward communication.

It often has to be planned in advance.

Written records of conversations are kept.

In every organization the Human Resource Management plays a dual role in the form of strategic

and administrative performances. The strategic function lies in ensuring that a company’s

employees (its human resources) abide by the company’s rules, but also are happy in their jobs.

This can mean contrasting roles such as monitoring personal calls and emails, and being a point

of contact for any problems. The administrative function of the HRM office is concerned with

ensuring that their employees’ benefits are awarded. This can include vacation and sick leaves

benefits, uniforms, health and safety, and canteens. The researcher through thus researcher has

noticed that the HRM office at The Waterloo Guest House takes great pride in carrying out these

functions. From the uniformed staff at the house to the well-disciplined and well pleased

employees.The questionnaires used in this research were aimed directly at gathering information

as to what the main functions of the Human Resource Management at the Waterloo Guest House

are.

Previously stated The Waterloo Guest House didn’t start out as a guest house. It was

home to Dr. Frank Ferdinand who occupied it until 1972 when Stewart’s daughter Mrs. Carolyn

Allen returned to Jamaica from the USA. She from her personal savings converted the estate

from a house into a great house. After this took place the establishment started to survive from

the money it earned collecting rent from persons who rest there. Financial statements are

summaries of monetary data about an enterprise. The Waterloo Guest House engages in the

preparation of some of the most common financial statements including the balance sheet, the

income statement, the statement of changes of financial position and the statement of retained

earnings. In the preparation of financial statements company’s must adhere to set guidelines

provided by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) founded on April 1, 2001 is

the successor of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) founded in June

1973 in London. It is responsible for developing the International Financial Reporting Standards.

The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are standards and interpretations adopted

by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).

The business is one that holds in their hands the life of many so the manager found it suitable for

him to insure the business so that he can cover whatever damage is done on the properly of the

organization.

MethodologyThe researcher investigated the Waterloo Guest House to find out how important it is to

have a Human Resource Department as well as to find the effectiveness of having this

department in an organization.

Through-out this entire project the researcher gained his information using a number of

primary and secondary sources. Some of the primary sources that were used employed include:

overt observation and questionnaires, while some of the secondary sources employed included:

the internet, books, and records from the statement.

The research instrument used by the researcher is questionnaire. The researcher chose

questionnaires because they guarantee the confidentiality and it may reach a large mass in a short

period. The questionnaires were administered to the respondents directly by the researcher and

they were assured that confidentiality would be a major importance of the researcher in dealing

with their response. They were also encouraged not to correspond with each other during the

exercise and were asked for their full co-operation as well as to be honest in giving their

response. In choosing the respondents employed random sampling was used to assist the

researcher in choosing a sample population from the population for him to investigate.

The researcher during his visit to the business managed to observe methods by which

persons in the Human Resource Management of the business carry out their functions. The

employees of the Human Resource Management department were aware that they were being

observed, so therefore the researcher is unaware if the participants weren’t just pretending.

The investigation consists of six (6) employees from the organization. From which (3)

three were males and (3) three were females. The members of this sample are all members with

over two (2) years work experience in the Human Resource Department of Waterloo Guest

House, so they should be able to answer some of the questions being raised by the researcher.

The researcher chose this organization because of its close proximity to the researchers’ home.

The questionnaires were administered to the population on the 23rd of November 2011

and they were collected on 27th of November 2011. The questionnaires were left with the

population for approximately 24hrs. The researcher returned to the organization to collect the

responses of the population about 2hrs after the 24hrs given to them expired.

ReportThe researcher investigated “The importance of Human Resource Department in

Waterloo Guest House”. This is an organization that is located in Black River. This organization

is one that is located across from the Black River water front, it carries a wonderful view of the

water and it beautifully decorated with flowers and lilies.The house was built in 1819, built

mainly from materials imported from England and named after the battle of Waterloo. It was

originally owned by the Shakespeare family (who were believed to be related to the great bard).

The Shakespeare's sold the property to John Leyden, an English racehorse breeder. Leyden

bought the first car to Jamaica and in 1893 made Waterloo the first home in Jamaica to be

supplied with electricity. He then went on to wire the whole town with electricity, making Black

River the only town in Jamaica with domestic electricity. However, when the family's fortunes

changed the electricity plant had to close. The town then went without electricity until 1936.In

1940 the house was sold to Dr. Frank Ferdinand. Dr. Ferdinand's wife established a school (the

"Black River High School") which was operational between 1945 and 1960, producing many

great scholars. Waterloo was converted in to a guest house in 1972 when Stewart's daughter,

Mrs. Carolyn Allen returned to Jamaica from the USA. The original building contains six

bedrooms but a new wing, housing 16 rooms was added in 1992. The mission statement of this

organization states that the organization endures to serve and satisfy the needs of customers and

also to ensure that the employees of the organization are satisfied with their working

conditions.The Human Resource Management department at The Waterloo Guest house indulges

in a variety of activities which are beneficial to the improvement of Black River and its

surrounding communities. This organization sponsors a variety of youth programs such as; under

21 football competitions, junior girls’ netball competitions, walk-a-thons and Marathons and

swimming competitions just to name a few. The business being investigated is a partnership that

operates under the private sector. The private sector is that part of the economy that is owned and

controlled by private individuals. The business operates in Jamaica which employs a mixed

economic system. This economic system is one in which there is a combination of a free market

and a planned economy. In this system the government and the forces of demand and supply

allocate the resources of the economy. A public sector and a private sector co-exist within the

economy where some enterprises are owned by the state and some are privately owned. Some of

the main objectives of this business are to:

Provide a safe haven for persons visiting Black River.

Maximize profits to the fullest.

In this business there are persons who are ranked higher than others and in order for the person at

the lower rank to communicate with those high above them they will have to first consult with

their superiors. This is an illustration of how this process occurs.

Fig 1.

Manager

Supervisor

Chefs Maids Receptionist Accounts clerks

AdministrationHR Officer

As the figure above illustrates the chefs and the maids in this company have to consult the

human resource officer in order for their opinions to reach the manager but before it reaches the

manager the human resource officer has to report to the supervisor who will in return report to

the manager.

Analysis and InterpretationThe researcher through this research learnt that Waterloo Guest House is one that is

actively involved in recreational activities that take place in and around the community of Black

River through the Human Resource Management Office. The researcher also managed to attain

knowledge that the guest house operates in a private sector under a mixed economy.The mission

statement of any organization is very important as it express in words the business’s vision of

what the company is and what it is to become. The mission statement of the Waterloo Guest

House does exactly this as their mission states:

“To be aresting bed away from home for travelersthrough an Efficient, Satisfied Team that

delivers quality living conditions for guest, thereby Maximizing Value for the benefit of Our

Clients, Shareholders and Employees.”In this mission statement, it is clear that the purposes of

The Waterloo Guest House is to create an environment in which persons travelling can come to

relax and still feel at home, and maximize profits for the benefit of the clients, shareholders and

employees. The members of the Human Resource Management team are able to keep the

objectives of the business alive because the mission statement of the company is a constant

reminder to them as to what their roles are. The Human Resource Management at the Waterloo

Guest House plays a credential role in maintaining their public appearance.

Members of the organization made in known to the researcher that the manager of the

organization engages in activities that assist the employees in doing effective and efficient work.

It was also gathered that the employees of this organization get evaluated every four months.

Democratic leadership style encourages workers participation in decision making. The workers

participation may lead to better final decisions as staff has much to contribute and can offer

valuable work experience to new situations. Their higher order needs are also met due to this

style of leadership. Workers should feel more committed to ensuring that decisions they have

influenced are put into effect successfully. However, employing this leadership style can be time

consuming, also, on occasions, quick decision making will be required and this may cause some

form of conflict.Effective team work and team management is very important to any

organization. The Waterloo Guest House believes that team work and a strong team management

is vital in achieving the entity’s objective.From the information received the researcher

understand that the HRM office at The Waterloo Guest house plays an effective role in ensuring

that the business remains functional over the years and also gains maximum profit and give

customer satisfaction from its daily routines.

ConclusionFrom the information collected the researcher has found it fit to conclude that the business is one

that plays a vital role in and around the community of Black River through the Human Resource

Management Office and is one that has made their name around the world because they meet

customer satisfactory standards.

The researcher also came to the conclusion that the organizations’ management style is

very effective which hence has led to the generating of many customers to the company which is

the major cause of the high income earning. The researcher also came to the conclusion that

through this management style the employees of this organization are satisfied and thus work to

the best of their abilities. In closing the researcher, wishes to outline that the Human Resource

Management at the Waterloo Guest House is very important as it builds a solid foundation on

which the company’s years of success lies.

RecommendationThe researcher will recommend that The Waterloo Guest House continues to prepare its

financial statements in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards and the

rules stipulated by the International Accounting Standards Board.

The researcher will also recommend that they continue to use their current form of

leadership, as it has benefited them throughout the years, and has allowed them to grow and

become the leader that they are.

The researcher will also recommend that they keep their current mission statement and

business objectives as it has made them into a very dynamic get-away hotspot that they currently

are.

The researcher wishes to inform the company that the use of the Human Resource

Management is very effective in that it has helped the company in becoming where it is

currently.

In an attempt to increase the effectiveness of the HRM department the researcher will

also recommend that the Head Of Department (HOD) keep regular and current records of the

work done by the department itself in order to compile sensible reports on regular intervals.

References/Bibliography

Waterloo Guest House financial statement(fiscal year 2008-2009)

http:// www.google.com

http://www.britannica.com/

Stimpson, P. Singh, K. (2007) Management of Business for Cape, Unit 1, Cambridge University

Press

Pg. 178,194

S.Finisterre and L.Payne and J.Reid (2004)Office Administration for CXC. Pg.158

AppendicesQuestionnaire

From the research at hand the researcher came up with a number of questions to

administer to the sample population. These questions are set solely to find out what the functions

of the Human Resource Department are. Some of these questions are:

This is not a test so there are no reasons to share answers or cheat.

Please tick an answer where [ ] are provided.

1. To what gender do you belong?

[ ] Male

[ ] Female

2. How long have you been an employee of this organization?

[ ] 3-5 months

[ ] 6-12 months

[ ] 1-2 years

[ ] Over two years

3. What is the Human Resource Department?

________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________.

4. Is there a Human Resource Management at the Waterloo Guest House?

Yes [ ]

No [ ]

5. What are the functions of the Human Resource Department?

________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________.

6. Why is it important to have a Human Resource Department at Waterloo Guest House?

________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________.

7. Does the Human Resource Department help to motivate employees?

[ ] Yes

[ ] No

8. If yes, explain how the department does this.

________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________.

9. Is the Human Resource Department allowed to employ?

[ ] Yes

[ ] No

10. How often does this department update its’ system?

[ ] Daily

[ ] Weekly

[ ] Monthly

[ ] Annually

11. How has the Human Resource Management Department contributed to the running of the

Waterloo Guest House?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

12. Is teamwork an important factor to management?

[ ] Yes

[ ] No

13. What are the types of teams is management involved in?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

14. Has this led to the growth of the company?

[ ] Yes

[ ] No

15. Why do you prepare financial statements?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

16. Do you utilize Accounting Standards? If yes, in what ways?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

17. Do you keep abreast of changes in the international Accounting Standards?

[ ] Yes

[ ] No

18. What are some of International Standards your company uses?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Presentation Of Data

Fig 1. The figure above illustrates how effectively the Human Resource Management Office of the Waterloo Guest House performs its functions. The diagram shows that the department performs most of its functions equally but pays a somewhat special bit of attention to the recruiting sector but is very effective in what it does.

32%

24%

23%

23%

Graph showing effectiveness of the HRM

Recruiting Interviewing Allocating Assessing

3-5 months 6-12 months 1-2 years Over two years0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Graph showing the period of time that respondents have been employed

The figure above illustrates in percentage how many long the respondents have been working in the Human Resource department of Waterloo Guest House.

Fig 3. This diagram shows how the Human Resource Management department has helped to generate income at the Waterloo Guest House.

1993-1995 1996-1997 1998-2001 2002-2004$0

$100,000

$200,000

$300,000

$400,000

$500,000

$600,000

$700,000

$800,000

$900,000

$1,000,000

Graph showing growth of income in the business